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Kenney deletes years’ worth of text messages; Colleges teach students about happiness | Morning Newsletter

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Shawn McLaughlin, left Ilana Stern, right play Ungame the board game used to create a positive environment to discuss personal life between students at Temple University in the Tuttleman Counseling Center and Resiliency Resource Center on January 25, 2019.
Shawn McLaughlin, left Ilana Stern, right play Ungame the board game used to create a positive environment to discuss personal life between students at Temple University in the Tuttleman Counseling Center and Resiliency Resource Center on January 25, 2019.Read moreANTHONY PEZZOTTI / Staff Photographer

    The Morning Newsletter

    Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter

Happy Presidents’ Day, friends. If you woke up with the Monday blues, you’ll want to pay special attention to my colleague Aneri Pattani’s latest story this morning. It’s all about college courses that aim to teach students to build stronger relationships and other skills known to boost happiness. It may just make you want to go back to school. Speaking of learning, Mayor Jim Kenney might need a lesson on public records. The way he’s using his personal cell phone could violate state open records laws.

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— Aubrey Nagle (@aubsn, morningnewsletter@philly.com)

The University of Pennsylvania is where positive psychology, the scientific study of what goes well in life and how to cultivate more of it, really took off.

Now the school is bringing the practice to its undergraduate students through a new (and very popular) course.

You can’t exactly teach happiness, but research has shown teaching youth resilience and positive psychology can have a number of positive effects, from reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety to even improving grades.

Mayor Jim Kenney is just like you: he deletes text messages on his phone to clear space.

The problem with that? It may violate state open records laws.

Records of any communication relating to city business are intended to be preserved so citizens can see and understand how public officials govern and tax dollars are spent.

A yearlong Internal Affairs investigation laid blame on Philadelphia Police Inspector Raymond Evers and his supervisor Chief Inspector Anthony Boyle for a narcotics policy for flipping suspects into off-the-books confidential informants.

That policy eventually evolved into falsifying paperwork and hiding information from prosecutors.

Now defense attorneys are trying to figure out just how widespread the practice was — and how many cases it may have tainted.

What you need to know today

  1. On Friday, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border in a move designed to secure billions of dollars Congress didn’t authorize for a proposed border wall. If Congress votes to disapprove his declaration, the White House has said Trump is prepared to veto it. 

  2. The man who killed five co-workers and wounded six others at an Aurora, Ill. manufacturing plant Friday had previously had his gun license permit revoked. A letter was sent ordering him to turn over his firearm to police in 2014, but the gun was never seized.

  3. This week Pope Francis will welcome more than 100 top Catholic bishops to Rome for a summit aimed at tackling the issue of clergy sex abuse. But some are bracing for disappointment.

  4. Last week Philadelphia’s Republican ward leaders endorsed ward leader Daphne Goggins for mayor. Now they want a “do-over.”

  5. It may have made traffic an ordeal for drivers yesterday, but a helicopter delivering equipment to the top of a Center City building drew oohs and ahs from onlookers.

  6. Sixers teammates Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons brought The Process to the NBA’s All-Star Game Sunday night with 10 points each for their opposing teams.

Through Your Eyes | #OurPhilly

Almost need some shades for those light trails, @shaynemalcolm. 😎

Tag your Instagram posts or tweets with #OurPhilly and we’ll pick our favorite each day to feature in this newsletter and give you a shout out!

That’s Interesting

  1. Not happy with today’s weather? You might be thankful it isn’t the Presidents’ Day of 1979 when an absolute shocker of a snowstorm hit our region. 

  2. The Flyers are on a roll. They put away two wins over the Red Wings this weekend (with some major help from goalie Carter Hart) giving them a 12-1-1 record in their last 14 games.

  3. The latest edition of Clean Plates, a round-up of local eateries that have recently been closed after health inspections, can be summed up with the phrase, “kitty litter bucket.”

  4. Once described by the FBI as a drug kingpin, George Martorano was supposed to die in federal prison. Now he owns a cozy CBD cafe in South Philly.

  5. Some drivers make a living by transporting chickens, milk, or fresh-cut lumber. Others make a living by “haulin’ Amish" in rural Pennsylvania.

  6. Tonight area residents and students will take the stage at Villanova University to bring former slaves’ stories to life. Their material? Newspaper ads placed by those hoping to find missing relatives.

Opinions

“It would be far better for political leaders to be the vanguards of reform rather than protectors of the same old rotten system.” — The Inquirer Editorial Board on why it’s time for Pennsylvania politicians to stop rigging elections.

  1. The true goals of teacher strikes are not to provide better education for students but to keep control over education in the hands of the powerful, write founding board member of the Philadelphia Schools Partnership Janine Yass and founder of Boys Latin Public Charter School David Hardy. 

  2. President Trump’s declaration of a “national emergency” to build a border wall was the real emergency, presenting an urgent argument for removing a president who is unwell, writes columnist Will Bunch. 

What we’re reading

  1. For Black History Month, the Root asked writers to explain why their hometown is America’s Blackest City, and Charles D. Ellison’s essay about how Philly is where “black goes big” is a moving must-read. 

  2. Few things spark as much debate in Philly as our neighborhood names. Billy Penn reports that residents want to reclaim the Harrowgate moniker after it fell out of fashion in the North Philly neighborhood.

  3. A 150-year-old church in Queen Village was just sold to a new owner, possibly for residential redevelopment. Shockingly, former congregants say Buddhist monks leading the church sold it in secret, PlanPhilly reports.

  4. How does your brain keep your memories straight? Wired’s deep look at the timekeeping mechanisms of the mind is, dare I say, memorable. 

  5. What would it be like to share common areas, meals, and responsibilities with dozens of other families? Curbed talked to kids who grew up in cohousing communities and the conversation is a fascinating perspective on communal living.

A Daily Dose of | Gas

You may have seen the tiny, early gas stations that dot Philly’s residential neighborhoods, but do you know the history behind their distinct designs?